Baxter Creek Water Quality Monitoring
Led by FOBC's Watershed Awareness Program coordinator Apple Szostak of The Watershed Project (formerly the Aquatic Outreach Institute), members George McRae and Mary Lou Loomis have begun to monitor water quality in the creek.

High levels of bacteria in the water could indicate a sewer leak into the creek. George and Mary Lou are testing for bacteria at six points along Baxter Creek in Booker T. Anderson, Canyon Trail, Mira Vista, and Poinsett Parks and in the areas south of Albertson's and west of Angelo's Delicatessen along San Pablo Ave. in El Cerrito and Richmond.

As a component of this monitoring program, students from local schools will conduct aquatic monitoring. Because we don't want to expose kids to dangerously high levels of bacteria, FOBC will work with the Cities of El Cerrito and Richmond to prioritize, identify, and repair any sewer leaks into the creek.

This program will allow FOBC to (1) conduct its creek restoration activities with more safety and (2) improve wildlife habitat in and around Baxter Creek.

To help with water quality monitoring at a branch near your home, send Apple an e-mail message.

Who to Call for Dumping and Spills in Baxter Creek
For a dumping in progress, call 911. For spills and dumping in El Cerrito, call the Maintenance and Engineering Department at (510) 215-4382. For spills and dumping in Richmond, call (510) 412-2001.

Hotline to California Regional Water Quality Control Board
To report possible water quality violations affecting Baxter Creek or other watersheds that enter the Bay from Contra Costa County, call Environmental Specialist Christine Boschen of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board at (510) 622-2346 or send her an e-mail message.

Five Things You Can Do for Creeks
Passed along to us by our sister organization, Friends of Five Creeks, the following helpful information is provided by the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program:

• Eliminate or reduce your use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Use compost to provide natural, slow-acting fertilizer. Control pests with nontoxic alternatives such as hand-picking, traps, closing up holes, and encouraging predatory insects. Ask your local nursery or hardware store for information on less-toxic chemicals or contact (510) 670-5543, 524-2567, or (1-888) BAYWISE. In particular, avoid products containing diazinon and chlorpyrifos, which poison aquatic life.
• Help water to filter into the soil and thus reduce runoff. Unless you live in a slide area, keep impervious surfaces to a minimum on your property. Where possible, use porous paving, which provides a more natural, steady flow to our creeks, reduces pollution, and prevents the sudden, erosive storm flows that can damage stream channels and destroy aquatic habitats. Chlorinated tap water can be toxic to aquatic life.
• Plant to keep creeks shady so that the water stays cool and erosion is reduced. With minimum care, native plants can provide good habitat and erosion control. Retain native vegetation along creeks. Replace invasive nonnative plants such as English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, Cape or German ivy, Pampas grass, and ice plant with suitable native ones.
• Don't pour or wash anything down gutters or storm drains, which drain directly to creeks or the Bay. Wash vehicles and equipment with water only on dirt or grass, where soapy water won't run off into the street or storm drains. Use your local car wash. Ask your city about proper disposal of motor oil, antifreeze, concrete, paint, solvents, and other chemicals. Report illegal discharges.
• Drive less! Auto exhaust particles, leaking fluids, and tire and brakepad debris are major sources of Bay Area water pollution. Walk, bicycle, carpool, and use transit. Plan errands to reduce driving.

Invasive Plants Along East Bay Creeks
Some nonnative plants take over large areas, usually because the new area doesn't contain insects or other controlling factors found in their native habitat. Not only do these invaders crowd out the variety of plants that would otherwise flourish, but they only rarely provide good habitat for native insects, birds, or other wildlife and instead produce a monotonous, impoverished ecosystem.

By replacing these invaders with suitable native plants, you can create a low-maintenance, erosion-resistant landscape that's friendly to wildlife. Try to eliminate these plants before they become established. Before clearing a large stand, however, take measures to prevent erosion. Large-scale clearing along creek banks requires a permit from the California Department of Fish and Game:

• Cape or German ivy (Senecio mikanoides). This twining climber from South Africa has bright green, shiny, ivy-like leaves that smell foul when crushed; fluorescent pink young stems; and small yellow flowers in winter. It forms dense masses that shade out all other plants and spreads rapidly from seeds or fragments. Pull up the plants, shallow roots and all. Seal all plant parts in bags and dispose of them in the trash (not in the compost pile). Cape ivy breaks easily; even a leaf or a bit of stem can take root. Return to pull out new sprouts. Do not grow in house or garden. Wild cucumber is a similar-looking native vine that should be preserved. Its leaves are slightly hairy and more blue-green than ivy's. With white flowers and fine curly tendrils, wild cucumber does not form dense mats.
• Ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis). This low-growing plant has long-rooted trailers with succulent, bluish-green leaves (often shaded red), and bright pink or yellow flowers. Near salt water (including marshes near creek mouths), it forms dense mats that crowd out native plants. To protect endangered animals like the salt-marsh harvest mouse and California clapper rail, pull up ice plant trailers by hand or with a fork. Dispose of them where they can't take root.
• Cardoon, artichoke thistle (Cynara cardunculus). Cardoon is dramatic, forming tall fountains of large, gray-green, deeply divided leaves and huge blue-purple thistle-like flowers. Originally a garden vegetable or ornamental, this plant has gone wild, developing fierce spines that are dangerous to both people and animals. Its flowers shed thousands of seeds, which are carried widely on the wind. Wearing heavy gloves, you should dig up the roots as soon as possible. Don't worry about digging up the wrong plant: All large local thistles are invasive weeds. To prevent the plant from spreading, cut the flowers and buds and dispose of them in sealed bags. Even in cut form, they'll form mature seeds. Don't grow cardoon in gardens.
• Pampas grass, jubata grass (Cortaderia selloana, Cortaderia jubata). These grasses grow tall, to six feet or more, with dramatic white seed plumes. Crowding out native vegetation without providing food, they are also a fire hazard. Seeds carry widely on the wind and spread more clumps. Dig up these clumps (once they are large, this is difficult). To prevent spread, cut off plumes and dispose of them in a sealed trash can. Don't grow these plants in gardens.
• Algerian and English ivy (Hedera). These woody evergreen vines have leathery, dark-green, three-pointed leaves. Algerian ivy, with pinkish stems and less distinct leaf points, is more invasive than English ivy. These ivies are handsome and tough, but they shade out everything else, climb and kill trees, and provide useful habitat only to rats. Wearing gloves (some people are allergic), pull ivy up roots and all; the dense cover can be rolled up like a rug. Don't let it root again. On trees, cut woody stems growing up trees and pull off a few feet so that the ivy above will die.
• Himalayan blackberry (Rubus discolor). This common shrub has toothed, divided leaves; long reddish weeping canes that root where they touch ground; pale pink single flowers; edible black berries; and sharp, painful thorns. (Native blackberry, which should be preserved, has dense, almost furry prickles that hardly hurt if you grab them.) Himalayan blackberry provides food for birds and people, and nest spots safe from cats and squirrels, but it takes over large areas if left unchecked. Wearing heavy gloves, cut the canes so that you can get close and then dig out the roots, especially woody burls that will sprout new canes. Dispose of the plants where its parts can't root.

Ditch Diazinon!
Did you know that diazinon is one of the pesticides causing toxicity in our creeks? Diazinon (sold as Knox-Out® or Spectracide®) is an organophosphate insecticide widely used to control house and garden pests. It's applied in granular form to control fleas, ants, grubworms, crickets, and scorpions. It's applied in spray form to control wasps, aphids, flies, June beetles, and a host of other garden pests.

Rain or water from garden hoses washes diazinon into storm drains. From there, it contaminates our creeks and the Bay. The pesticide is known to kill or stunt marine life. The Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program found diazinon to be causing toxicity in East Bay creeks, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board recently added diazinon to the list of causes of impairment of the Bay and all its tributaries.

Diazinon is a "broad-spectrum" insecticide, which means that it kills a wide range of insects other than the target species. Applying broad-spectrum insecticides can increase pest problems by killing off the natural enemies of pests, such as the parasitic wasps that lay their eggs inside the bodies of aphids.

Alternative Flea Controls
Protect creeks, the Bay, and the natural enemies of pests. Use alternative products like the following:

• Mechanical controls, including flea combs, vacuums, sticky light traps, and sticky tapes. Look for products like Over Nite Flea Trap®, Flea Stop®, and Ultralight® for the home.
• For the yard, diatomaceous earth (DE) or insect-attacking nematodes like Vector® or BioFlea®.
• For the pet, citrus or herbal oil extracts like Flea Stop Shampoo®, Citrus Plus Shampoo®, and Pennyroyal Shampoo®. Do not substitute dips or other flea controls containing chlorpyrifos, which is another organophosphate believed to seriously harm aquatic life.

Alternative White Grub Controls
The best controls against the adult forms of these beetles include:

• Pheromone traps like SureFire® and Safer Japanese Beetle Trap®.
• Physical controls like row covers sold by Gardens Alive®, Peaceful Valley®, and Harmony®.
• Sticky traps and tape like Chroma®, Ecogen®, and Sterling's Japanese Beetle Trap®.

Alternative Ant Controls
Here are the best controls against ants:

• Use sticky barriers like Tanglefoot® and Stickem®.
• Create tree pest barriers around the trunk of a tree or bush to prevent ants from protecting aphids.
• Prune branches that touch walls, fences, or the ground so that ants can't find alternative routes to plants.
• Keep trash, garbage, and compost away from buildings; caulk openings that ants can use to enter.

Resolution of West Contra Costa Sierra Club Executive Board (Feb. 12, 1998)
With the assistance of environmental activist Debbi Landshoff, the Executive Board of the West Contra Costa Sierra Club passed the following resolution drafted by the Friends of Baxter Creek in early 1998:

WHEREAS it is the mission of the Sierra Club to "practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources" and to "protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment";

WHEREAS it is Sierra Club policy:

• To "reverse, not merely slow, the trend of wetlands destruction and degradation";
• To remove "[p]ublic incentives to wetlands degradation . . . , including tax benefits for development or conversion, . . . channelization, infrastructure construction, and other direct and indirect subsidies";
• To support the designation of "[a]ll proposals for development activities in wetlands [as] environmentally significant and therefore . . . subject to an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement and public review";
• To ensure that "[p]ublic and private use of wetlands [does not] involve obliteration or significant alteration of wetlands that would degrade their natural functions . . . , [including] [f]illing, excavating, grading, discing, draining, removing natural vegetation or blocking off its light source, creating turbidity and siltation, channeling, releasing of contaminants, and other direct or indirect disruptions"; and
• To support "the rebuilding and restoration of wetlands . . . in order to improve their capacity to perform their ecological functions of pollution, erosion, and flood control and support for fish and wildlife."

WHEREAS Baxter Creek and the open space surrounding it on both sides of San Pablo Ave. near MacDonald Ave. in northern El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California, have been designated by the California Department of Fish & Game as a wetland (i.e., "lands that are transitional between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems wherein the water table is usually at or near the surface and the land is covered periodically by shallow water");

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that:

1. Baxter Creek be preserved and restored as an open creek on both sides of San Pablo Ave., with an adequate buffer on either side of the creek to assure future protection of the wetland;

2. The open space surrounding the creek, including its riparian habitat for birds and other wildlife, be preserved, cleaned up, and restored, with an adequate buffer on its boundaries to assure future protection of this land;

3. The Ohlone Greenway be extended along the creek toward Richmond, as a critical link to the future San Francisco Bay Trail;

4. Proposed development activities involving significant alteration or destruction of the creek or its surrounding open space be subject to extensive public review, including preparation of an environmental impact statement, to demonstrate that no practicable alternative exists that would have a less environmentally damaging impact;

5. Compensatory mitigation not be considered an acceptable alternative to eliminating or minimizing avoidable damage; and

6. Creation or preservation of another wetland not be considered acceptable as mitigation for the loss of this wetland, the functions and values of which cannot be replaced in another location.

Joint Watershed Goals Statement (1995)
Friends of Baxter Creek often cite the following Watershed Goals Statement to support preservation of the Baxter Creek watershed:

The cities of Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, and Richmond, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the University of California, Berkeley, agree to join in partnership to restore the watershed of our joint jurisdiction to a healthy condition. We will cooperate closely to accomplish the following goals:

• Restoring our creeks by removing culverts, underground pipes, and obstructions to fish and animal migration, putting creeks in restored channels up in the sunshine where they can be enjoyed by people and wildlife.
• Restoring creek corridors as natural transportation routes with pedestrian and bicycle paths along creekside greenways; wherever possible using creekside greenways to connect neighborhoods and commercial districts east of the Interstate 80 freeway to the shoreline of San Francisco Bay and the San Francisco Bay Trail.
• Restoring a healthy freshwater supply to creeks and the bay by eliminating conditions that pollute rainwater as it flows overland to creeks and eliminating conditions that prevent a healthy amount of rainwater from soaking into the ground and replenishing the underground water supplies that nourish creeks.
• Instilling widespread public awareness of the value of developing infrastructure along lines that promote healthier watersheds and watershed oriented open spaces where nature and community life can flourish.

In addition to ongoing general cooperation in the furtherance of these goals, the watershed partners agree to seek out opportunities to jointly apply for grants and jointly undertake planning, construction, educational, and watershed management projects, which will be approved on a case by case basis by the respective governing bodies.